'Contemporary' Jewish deli opening in North Center

Aaron Steingold, who has been general manager of Art Smith's Table 52 and manager of Farmhouse, is hoping his deli can succeed where others have failed.

The Jewish deli has become somewhat of an endangered species in Chicago, a situation Aaron Steingold hopes to reverse when he and his wife, Elizabeth Abowd, open Steingold's of Chicago in North Center.

Targeting a mid- to late-August opening, Steingold's will occupy 2,000 square feet on Irving Park Road, steps from the Brown Line station. The light and airy 48-seat spot will have a mostly white color palette with subway tiles and pops of color from fixtures, tables and Le Creuset serving trays.

In the past few years, Dillman's in River North, Eleven City Diner in Lincoln Park and Ada's Famous Deli in the Loop have all shuttered, leaving just a handful of Jewish delis in the city.

Open daily starting with breakfast, and coffee and tea service from Sparrow and Rare Tea Cellar, respectively, Steingold's will be a "contemporary Jewish deli with a firm foothold in tradition while utilizing modern cooking techniques and trying to take the concept of a deli into the 21st century," said Steingold, formerly general manager of Art Smith's Table 52 and manager of Farmhouse. It will also add Lebanese influences to reflect Abowd's heritage.

Sourcing locally raised meat and produce and sustainably caught fish, Steingold's will have a menu executed by culinary director Joshua Ramatowski (Trench, Dusek's) featuring all-day breakfast, sandwiches, housemade hot dogs and a dinner special. The bagel dough, which will be boiled and baked in-house, comes from artisan bagel maker Max Stern, aka the Bagel Chef. Steingold's will smoke and cure fish in-house, including Scottish salmon for the gravlax, smoked sturgeon, herring and pastrami-spiced trout, which will be thick-cut, Montreal-style.

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Elizabeth Abowd and Aaron Steingold

Breakfast will feature sandwiches with ingredients such as house-whipped cream cheese, house maple sausage and farm eggs. Lunch will offer stuffed sandwiches (a third of a pound of meat) or double stuffed (two-thirds of a pound) like the Grandpa Joe (pastrami with mustard) and Grandma Rachel (smoked turkey on challah with peppered coleslaw and havarti cheese), named for Abowd's 100-year-old grandmother. Nanna's matzo ball soup is derived from a recipe from Steingold's great-grandmother. Dinner will feature a daily rotating special; two were inspired by Steingold's father's Southern nanny. Everything, including heat-at-home dinners and by-the-pound meats and bagels, will be available to order ahead via the restaurant's app.

Steingold's will be BYOB, but the owners hope to add a small cocktail, beer and wine list. The restaurant will also offer caviar service with or without latkes.

"I love restaurants that are super-casual that have little touches of luxury," Steingold said, "and that's what I'm going for."

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story placed the deli in the wrong neighborhood.